February 20, 2024 - Russia-Ukraine news

A Ukrainian commander stationed on the outskirts of Avdiivka says Russia has the capacity to continue its advance into the eastern town and will "continue to do so."

Maksym Zhorin, deputy commander of the 3rd Separate Assault Brigade, posted to Telegram on Tuesday that Ukrainian troops are "clearly aware that the Russians have enough forces in the town itself to continue their offensive."

He said Russian troops were headed in the direction of Lastochkyne.

Some context: After years of fighting, Ukrainian forces made the decision over the weekend to abandon the town, handing Russia its most significant victory since it captured the city of Bakhmut last year.

The White House will announce a major sanctions package against Russia on Friday, US National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said on Tuesday.

The sanctions will hold Russian President Vladimir Putin accountable for Russia's war in Ukraine — which hits the 2-year mark on Saturday — and for the death of opposition figure Alexey Navalny, he said. 

Kirby also repeated calls for Congress to pass the administration’s national security supplemental, directly tying the aid for Ukraine to the legislation, which remains stalled in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.

President Joe Biden previewed the upcoming announcement at the White House on Tuesday, telling reporters they’d hear more from him on the subject Friday. 

"I told you we’d be announcing sanctions on Russia — we’ll have a major package announced on Friday,” Biden told reporters gathered on the South Lawn before departing the White House for a three-day fundraising swing in California.

Meanwhile, Biden's national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters on a call Tuesday that the new sanctions against Russia will impact a "significant range of targets that we have worked persistently and diligently to identify, to continue to impose costs for what Russia has done — for what it's done to Navalny, for what it's done to Ukraine, and for the threat that it represents to international peace and security."

The town of Avdiivka would not have been lost if Ukraine “had received all the artillery ammunition that we needed to defend it,” Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour in Kyiv on Tuesday.

Kuleba said the war would continue and that “Russia does not intend to pause.”

White House official John Kirby also laid the blame for Ukraine’s withdrawal from Avdiivka at the feet of Republicans in Congress.

“Let's be clear about this: Ukraine's decision to withdraw from Avdiivka wasn't because they weren't brave enough, wasn’t because weren’t well-led enough, it wasn't because they weren't trained, it wasn't because they didn't have the tactical acumen to defend themselves and to defend that town. It was because of congressional inaction,” he said Tuesday.

The White House is calling for “complete transparency” surrounding the circumstances of Alexey Navalny’s death, even as it conceded there was little confidence in getting a straight answer from Russia on how the opposition leader died.

He pointed the finger at Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying “regardless of the actual scientific answer, Mr. Putin is responsible for it.”

Navalny’s body will not be returned to the family for at least another 14 days, his spokesperson Kira Yarmish said Monday. His body will be under “some sort of chemical examination” in that period, the spokesperson added.

The White House said absent a “credible investigation” of Navalny’s death, it would be difficult to get a clear cause.

“It's hard to get to a point where we can just take the Russians’ word for it. So clearly, we're calling for complete transparency by the Russian government for how he died and we'll continue to do that.,” Kirby said.

A Russian helicopter pilot Maxim Kuzminov who defected to Ukraine in a dramatic operation is dead, Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence Directorate (GUR) tells CNN.

The statement comes as Spanish authorities investigate the killing of a man shot dead in Spain a week ago.

Initially, the Spanish Civil Guard said the victim was a 33-year-old Ukrainian but later said the man’s identity was still part of an investigation, which had been sealed by a judge. 

A source at Ukraine’s GUR confirmed to CNN the body was that of Kuzminov, but would not comment on how he had died.

Asked Tuesday whether Russia had any knowledge of the death, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Moscow had no information on the matter.

Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Director Sergey Naryshkin would also not comment directly on Kuzminov’s death, but told reporters the defector had become “a moral corpse the moment he began planning his dirty and terrible crime,” Russia’s RIA Novosti reported.  

Some context: Last September, CNN reported on how the Russian pilot flew his Mi8 combat helicopter across the border – in an operation directed by Ukraine’s GUR. In an interview, carried out under the auspices of the GUR, Kuzminov explained how he planned his defection and why he did it, telling reporters he was opposed to the war.

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba says the nation is staunchly committed to democracy, even as it is unclear if elections will be held this year during the country's war against Russia.

Elections usually occur every five years in Ukraine — with the last held in 2019, when President Volodymyr Zelensky was elected — but do not take place while the country is under martial law, as it has been since Russia's full-scale invasion on February 24, 2022.

In November, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also said holding elections during wartime would be "irresponsible." Elections were scheduled for March 31 this year.

Speaking to CNN's Christiane Amanpour in Kyiv on Tuesday, Kuleba said that "people will be simply afraid to go and cast their votes."

Amanpour asked what it would mean for democracy in the country if no elections were held.

"This is not an issue of willing or not willing to hold elections. This is an issue of finding answers to very specific questions. How do you ensure the security of voters who will go to the voting station?" he said.

On Navalny: Kuleba also commented on the death of Kremlin critic Alexey Navalny, saying Russian President Vladimir Putin cannot be considered a legitimate ruler if he "does not stick to his word."

The X account of Yulia Navalnaya, widow of Kremlin critic Alexey Navalny, was briefly suspended on Tuesday morning.

The page @Yulia_Navalnaya displayed the following message: 

About 30 minutes later, however, Navalnaya's account had been restored, with seemingly no explanation. Later in the day, X's safety team said the platform accidentally flagged Navalnaya's account as spam. In a post, they said they rectified the issue as soon as it came to light and would be updating their defense system.

While it was suspended, Alexey Navalny's foundation, the Anti-Corruption Foundation, took to X, tagging the platform's owner, Elon Musk, and asking, "Please explain exactly which rules were violated by @yulia_navalnaya."

The account was online Tuesday morning, when Navalnaya responded to Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov.

Peskov said her comments blaming Russian President Vladimir Putin for Navalny's death were "boorish" and "absolutely unfounded," prompting Navalnaya to respond:

"I don't care how the killer's press secretary comments on my words. Give back Alexey’s body and let him be buried with dignity, don’t stop people from saying goodbye to him," she posted on X. 

CNN has asked her team for comment.

This post has been updated with Navalnaya's account being restored and comment from X's safety team.

Ukraine on Tuesday slammed the scattering of Ukrainian grain on railroad tracks by protesters in Poland.

Ukraine's Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov posted a video that shows demonstrators opening railway carriages and allowing the grain to pour onto the tracks. 

Farmers in Poland have vowed to continue their demonstrations, which started on February 9, for 30 days. They have also been blocking access routes to border crossings with Ukraine.

Why are farmers protesting: Farmers in central and eastern Europe have been speaking out since 2023 against the impact of cheap Ukrainian grain imports, which have undercut domestic prices and hit the sales of local producers. They cannot compete with the price of Ukrainian grain, they say, and have demanded compensation from the European Commission.

Ukraine is often called the “breadbasket of Europe” due to the vast quantities of grain it produces. When Russia blocked Ukrainian Black Sea ports, it sparked fears about global food supplies and prompted the European Commission to set up what it called “solidarity lanes” in May to facilitate exports. The commission also temporarily eliminated all duties and quotas on Ukraine’s exports, allowing a glut of cheap grain to flow into Europe.

Anger grew after the European Commission announced a draft decision to extend duty-free and quota-free imports of Ukrainian grain until June 2024.

CNN’s Christian Edwards, Alex Hardie and Antonia Mortensen contributed reporting.

In a 2022 CNN Films documentary, Alexey Navalny delivered a message to the Russian people. If he was killed, he said, “You’re not allowed to give up.” 

Following his death Friday, the task that Navalny set himself, of opposing and exposing the ills of Putin’s regime is now left to Russia’s disparate, disunited, and partially dismantled opposition, with a new figurehead: Navalny’s widow Yulia.

On Monday, Yulia Navalnaya rebranded herself as a political force, vowing to pick up where her husband left off. 

This is a first for Navalnaya. She has always been by her husband’s side, through campaigns, protests, and incarcerations, but until now she has never tried to claim the spotlight, a point she emphasized at the start of her recording. “I should not have been in this place, I should not have recorded this video.”

And yet, behind the scenes, she proved herself an effective operator. After her husband’s poisoning in 2020, Navalnaya took the first flight available to the Siberian city of Tomsk where his plane had landed, and wrote a direct appeal to President Vladimir Putin to allow his evacuation to Germany. Even after that, her resolve to stand by him was unshaken. Less than two months later she told Russian journalist and YouTube star Yuri Dud, “I absolutely support what Alexey does. I’m being completely sincere. And quitting halfway is not great.”